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10+ best ideas for cheap Arduino UNO projects

This article was last modified on 26 November 2016.

When I was trying to build my first robot with an Arduino UNO, I had a hundred questions that I had to find answers. Some of those questions were, “How much will cost me to build a mobile robot?” and, “What happens after the project is finished? Can I reuse the components?” and even, “What are the components with the best price – performance ratio?”

What means for you a cheap Arduino UNO project?

A project that’s worth $50?

$70?

$100?

Well, probably 10 out of 10 readers have a different opinion of what means a cheap project. Even so, in this article, I explore projects built with cheap components and parts, and stuff that can be found in almost any creation room of roboticists. More than that, you can reuse all of these components and parts to build new innovative robots.

If you do not have an Arduino UNO, you have to spend few dollars only to buy one. This will change a little bit the shopping list and the final price of the project.

With all these details in mind, I added to the below list more than 10 Arduino UNO projects that will not exceed the threshold of $100 in costs.

On the Internet are tons of Arduino projects and large communities of hackers and makers. At a click away, you can read how a hacker tries to hack a toy car, and in the next minutes, you can read about how a maker is using electric motors from a printer to build a robot. All of them are a good source of inspiration.

This is a three-wheeled robot programmed to do figures of 8 in forward and backward mode. The chassis is built from cardboard and lollipop sticks. The most expensive components are the motor controllers, electric motors, and the micro 9g servos.

This project is a four-wheels robot car remote controlled with a TV remote control. The project includes an Arduino UNO, two DC motors, IR receiver, an L293D motor driver IC, batteries, wires, a simple chassis, and wheels.

This is a simple car built entirely from plywood and controlled wirelessly via an Arduino board. The project includes two chains to drive the wheels, batteries, electric motors, an Arduino motor shield, and several other components.

This project shows you how to hack a car toy and transform it into an autonomous race car. All you need is an Arduino UNO, an ultrasonic sensor, and a motor driver.

The robot is working in four different modes. One mode leads the car to full speed, the second mode slows down the car when an object is detected, the third mode avoids the obstacle, and the fourth mode stops and reverses the toy car.

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